Census Bureau`s `Poor American`

October 02, 1990|By Robert Rector; from a Heritage Foundation report.

The average ``poor American`` lives in a larger house or apartment than does the average West European. Poor Americans eat far more meat, are more likely to own cars and dishwashers, and are more likely to have basic modern amenities than is the general West European population. . . .

The Census Bureau counts as ``poor`` anyone with ``cash income`` less than the official poverty threshold, which was $12,675 for a family of four in 1989. The Census completely disregards assets owned by the ``poor,`` and does not even count much of what, in fact, is income. This is clear from the Census` own data: Low income persons spend $1.94 for every $1 in ``income``

reported by the Census. . . . Indeed, the gap between spending and the Census` count of the income of the ``poor`` has grown larger year by year till, now, the Census measurement of the income of poor persons no longer has any bearing on economic reality.

A key reason that the Census undercounts the financial resources of the

``poor`` is that, remarkably, it ignores nearly all welfare spending. . . . The missing welfare spending that is excluded from the Census Bureau poverty reports comes to $158 billion, or over $11,120 for every ``poor`` U.S. household. . . . With accurate counting, the number of poor persons would be shown to be only a small fraction of the Census Bureau`s current estimate of 31.8 million.